Japan

The visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe to Serbia after 31 years was truly epoch-making. As a result, young Japanese volunteers will soon arrive in Serbia, while some Japanese companies have started recognising the benefits of Serbia. Our embassy is willing to help these initiatives.

Recognising that businesses have life cycles that are influenced by environmental and other factors, Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) will re-profile its portfolio by proactively demonstrating the company’s strengths through the implementation of its mid-term corporate strategy by 2021

While some prominent Japanese companies already operate in Serbia, huge potential for further cooperation has yet to be explored. The investments by Yazaki and Mayekawa were a good start and today many Japanese companies are carefully watching how successful they are in Serbia. In efforts to provide more information to potential Japanese FDI, Serbian can learn from the Czech example

Compared to ten years ago, economic relations between the two countries have – by and large – expanded significantly. Measured in terms of the number of Japanese direct investment in Serbia, we are seeing six times as many companies today as there were a decade ago. Important political events, as well as some recent investments of Japanese companies in Serbia, are forming the basis for longer-term partnerships.

As of 2019, JICA will launch a new programme in which Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, young and energetic Japanese youngsters, will work with Serbian people in the local community on rural development, disaster prevention and support for people living with disabilities. I would take this opportunity to ask the Serbian people to provide a warm welcome for these young people

We must work stronger to promote opportunities to do business in Serbia among Japanese business circles and spread the word in larger circles, as trade cooperation can be enhanced between Serbian and Japanese companies in both Europe and Serbia.

Our aim is to increase the involvement of Japanese business circles in the creation and further improvement of conditions for doing business in Serbia by providing recommendations and examples of the successful practises of JBAS members, as well as Japan itself.

The Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) has around a hundred active projects at any given moment, which confirms the fact that Serbia is an extremely attractive investment destination. At the same time, there is a growing number of foreign investments that imply the transfer of higher-level technology. In the period ahead, RAS will continue to work intensively on the inclusion of local companies in international supply chains.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimates that over the 18 year period between the announcement of Tokyo 2020 in 2013 and 2030 – 10 years after the actual games – Japan would see an economic impact of ¥32.3trn (€248 bln) for hosting the event, with the number of people in employment to rise by 1.94 million nationwide

Japanese crafts are as old as Japan itself. Rural crafts were made with natural materials to provide for daily necessities, and with time they became increasingly complex and sophisticated. Crafts were then produced to be exported and to help the economy.

Many Japanese people still think Serbia isn’t perfectly safe, due to the wars that the entire Western Balkan region went through in the 1990s. In that sense, the challenge for the Serbian side is to disseminate the correct information on Serbia to Japanese people for the purposes of erasing such a stereotyped image of Serbia. Please be assured that the Embassy of Japan in Serbia is always on your side – Junichi Maruyama

As of recently, Serbia has been able to boast that, thanks to its active foreign investment policy, it has also become an attractive destination for Japanese companies. Also testifying to this is the visit of a JETRO delegation to Serbia after a gap of almost a decade. The occasion of this visit saw the trade sectors and the industries of ICT, construction, energy, chemicals, automotive and food production highlighted as potentially interesting areas for investment

Open discourse between the state and industry is something that has contributed, and will continue to contribute, to improving the business environment in Serbia. Members of the JBAS are renowned companies that are very willing to cooperate with the Serbian Government and contribute to even stronger relations between Japan and Serbia

The Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently announced the continuation of their joint project to advise and support the operations of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia

The Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia wants to contribute to promoting Japanese business culture, to support the arrival of new Japanese companies in Serbia and enable the inclusion of the Japanese business community in the creation and improvement of conditions for doing business in Serbia

“We owe our success, among other things, to the applying of the Kaizen business philosophy in our work, which is a specific way of thinking that encourages the creativity of employees, contributing to continuous progress,” explains Azhaiyp Kozhakhmetov, Operations Director at JT International a.d. Senta

Tjhe cultures and traditions of Japan are passed down through stories based on unique regional histories and traditions. The Agency for Cultural Affairs recognises these stories as Japanese Heritage.The Agency aims to revitalise local communities through comprehensive maintenance and utilisation of these attractive tangible and intangible cultural properties and their strategic promotion in Japan and overseas

The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, are planned to be held from 24th July to 9th August 2020 in Tokyo. It will be the second time that Tokyo has hosted the Olympics.

Two major investments since our last interview – Al Dahra’s acquisition of PKB and the privatisation of the Port of Novi Sad by DP World – are important for both the United Arab Emirates and for Serbia. However, bearing in mind that these two Emirate companies are present in many countries of the world, their significant positive impact is indeed international. I hope this positive trend will continue - Mubarak Saeed Ahmed Burshaid Aldhaheri

“Bitef wants to save what can be saved, because it was never just an artistic review, but rather also a platform for the social struggle in favour of progressive values, and those are today the most basic, human values: normalcy, goodness, love.”

The Elixir Group is a regional leader in the production of complex high quality mineral fertilisers and phosphoric acid, as well as many other agribusiness segments. The Group exports as much as 70 per cent of its production to more than 50 countries on all continents

Ever since the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the resulting backlash from the media about the negative effects of social media on our lives, users have been flocking from Facebook in droves. In fact, according to Pew Research as much as 40 percent of U.S. users have taken a break – sometimes for weeks on end – from checking their account

Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva is a Brazilian serial entrepreneur who has made and lost a fortune in the mining, oil and gas industries. He engaged in a quest to promote Brazil’s infrastructure with large-scale projects, such as the Porto do Acu, which ultimately led to his companies going bankrupt

The 21st century’s age of electronics and rapid communication requires experts in the social sciences and humanities, especially historical sciences, as they contribute to the development of a critical mind and democracy

Indian contemporary art is really that which is produced by ‘new age’ painters for today’s vibrant and growing market. Renowned artists and those of the new genre paint on several themes depicting diverse cultures and societies. Paintings produced by Indian artists have moved away from being plain, beautiful and skilled, to become interesting and unusual

David Vujich was among those who participated in the mission to send man to the Moon 50 years ago. In this account, he reveals interesting details of his origins, upbringing, working life and the great success that he achieved